Rear Brake Mechanism Rubbing On Frame

[millsmobile]

I had the swingarm off to strip & paint it, and also installed a new chain and sprockets. When I put everything back together the rear brake mechanism is rubbing on the frame and I can't figure out why. It was pretty pronounced while up on the center stand but I figured it would go away when back on the ground. It's a bit better, but it's like it rubs on the frame as it goes past it and then breaks free resulting in very unsmooth application of the rear brake. I'm about 90% sure it didn't do this before, but also I was unable to ride this bike until now. What should I be looking at? I don't see anything noticeably missing, and I only unbolted the wheel end parts required to remove the swingarm, I did not remove anything besides the foot pedal on the bike side.

 

[millsmobile]

Well I don't have anything to compare it to, but staring at it for a while it seems like the lever arm is bent. Was able to find the sweet spot for adjustment after much fiddling.

 

[SenseAmidMadness]

Got any pics?

 

[Qaxe]

This isn't a snarky "Google it" type response... however, when it's something you think is bent or visually wrong on the outside of the bike, doing a Google image search for your bike year/model can sometimes provide something to compare with.

When you do your search, filter for "large" size images and see if there's one you can zoom in on. If you're lucky, you may even be able to find angle shots.

 

[millsmobile]

Best I could do for photos. The spring hook is the point of contact, seems like the lever is bent slightly towards the outside of the bike, reducing the clearance for the spring. It makes a horrible popping noise and feel, the "adjustment" keeping that from happening right now is ive got the brake lever positioned so it hits the bottom of the footpeg slightly before the spring would pull the mechanism through the popping point. It does not appear the stop bolt is long enough to accomplish this. I suppose I could put a longer one in there? Would prefer that as I'd love to move the lever back down 2-3 notches for ankle comfort.

 

[Old_Crow]

In the 2nd photo, it appears that the hook on the spring is catching the weld on the frame which would probably cause your "pop". How about flipping the spring over so the hook points the other direction?

 

[millsmobile]

In the 2nd photo, it appears that the hook on the spring is catching the weld on the frame which would probably cause your "pop". How about flipping the spring over so the hook points the other direction?

Yah I'm quite sure that's the part that's catching. When I first reassembled it and noticed it was doing this I did try to flip the spring around, and that caused constant contact with the side of the frame and it rubbed the whole way. In the 3rd picture you can kind of see how the lever arm and the spring are pointed in different directions, and with it flipped it was basically bending the spring around the corner. When I flipped it back as pictured I did try to close the hook of the spring as much as possible with pliers, but it's still hitting.